Oh, and about WiFi on Verizon’s Samsung Omnia…

Sure it’s always a mystery how a handset might turn out after making its way through the carrier branding process, or “the crippler” as we call it. Will it be crippled beyond repair? Will it still be usable and only undergo minor feature changes? As far as the Samsung Omnia is concerned, the biggest question was with regards to whether or not Verizon would disable WiFi. Well you know what they say – a picture is worth 1,000 words. Big Red was indeed kind to the Omnia as it passed though the branding process and as you can see above, WiFi will be ready and waiting for all you touchscreen Windows Mobile fans for whom EVDO just isn’t enough. So there you have it folks; we showed you the pics, we gave you pricing and a release time line and now you know WiFi is still sitting pretty. All that’s left is for you to call in and place your orders or head out early next month to get your hands on a sure winner from what is now the nation’s largest carrier.

How bad would it be if VZW decided to software cripple the Omnia? Not saying that they will – but given their track record, I wouldn’t put it past them.

http://www.bulldoglist.com joe

Omnia>>>

Storm<<<
iPhone<<<

Haters fall back.

kthxbai

jr

Were they too busy to get the WiFi logo for the box?

krazyvzw

unlike the rest of the world I could less about wifi. everything is blocked these days anway….. att peeps like wifi cuz they never get any signal with there phones, so they need wifi to make up for it. I never have data issues with my vzw phones. and I have an aircard and do ichat with it. att customers just praise wifi because its the only way to get any data useage on the phone

Rollins

There is absolutely no reason for Verizon to cripple the Omnia because Verizon requires data plans on all smartphones now. For the same reason, I believe that the “story” of Verizon requesting the removal of WiFi from the Storm is a total hoax.

I must also mention that there has never been a phone that has appeared on Sprint with WiFi that has lost it on the way to Verizon. Ever. It’s true that Verizon once software-crippled the XV6700 and i730 so that they couldn’t have WiFi enabled without turning off the cellular radio, but those times are long behind them; future patches removed the limitation.

This reputation that Verizon’s somehow been shackled with of removing WiFi from phones is undeserved; for whatever reason, a lot of the CDMA versions of phones that Sprint and Verizon have picked up have dropped WiFi. I would guess that it’s because of the increased power requirements of CDMA versus GSM chipsets, but I don’t know for sure.

The suspicions that Verizon would remove WiFi from the Omnia have been nothing but paranoia at best. Verizon’s had at least one phone with WiFi on their roster for quite a while now.

NotHTCkid

I told you about 3 months ago the omnia was coming with WIFI, I saw it in public as soon as it passed the FCC, and it loosk nice, and I also let you knwo that the big Red was going to be releasing more and more phones with WIFI since they now have mandatory data plans on the devices. The only issue I have with the omnia is the email interface, we will see if it has improved any….otherwise I will be sticking with my blackberry.

justinhub2003

outside of the storm, (which i played with and compared with my g1 and my g1 killed its browser and the storm OS lag is crazy, so is typing on it) all of verizons phones interfaces look the same , they have the same menus and same indicator bars, i hate that… tmobile is small but i love the fact that they let there phones have there own personality.. actually on my g1 the only tmo branding is the logo on the hardware and a small removeasble icon for my favs..

i just hate verizon and there arrogance and they way they like to make all there phones look the same, there arrogance carriers over to there employee’s as well but even they had to admit my g1 browser killed the storm as well as how they think typing on it sucked..

i am kinda excited to check out the ominia tho, and i wonder if they will release a US gsm VERSION… and its good to see that verizon let them keep wifi..

Wifi is way faster than any cellphone carriers 3g or 4g network and why you dont want your phone going faster puzzles me, but then again before the storm, the verizon network never had a browser with a real full html browser so no matter how fast it went, it still sucked and the storms browser now wouls have looked good maybe 2 years ago but not so much now and the fact that u cant even scroll fast is stupid.

perfect example of why Verizon phones need wifi: yesterday at work my friend had gotten the storm and we were at work ( a large banks operation center) and in the bottom floor his almight verizon phones gets no service what so ever while my tmo g1 has 3 bars, well our work always us free wifi and guess what his storm was a brick and we had to walk outside in the freezing cold to even check out his data and stuff… thats stupid and a bad choice for verizon..

StreetDoc

Not sure why everyone praises the Verizon Wireless network so much, i was actually unimpressed. In fact, i had BETTER reception and LESS dropped calls with my Nextel. The data over EVDO on my late 8330 took FOREVER (granted, the browser was horrid). At work we have Verizon Wireless Rev. A network cards for out CADs (computer aided dispatching) and they loose connectivity constantly and in areas where Verizon reps and their coverage maps adamantly denied.

Sad part of all of this? Well, first of all i live and work just above NYC – so there really is no excuse for a anal retentive network. Likewise, you would think that Verizon would believe a public safety agency who is tasked with providing lifesaving service to it’s residents. They refused to believe any of us in the field and our administrator, until he took them out to all areas where service dropped out (despite their instance that it didn’t). The reps were at a loss for words – to put it mildly. We are even regretting switching from Nextel to Verizon for our medical control phones. They ALWAYS drop calls in the middle of giving reports and getting orders from docs.

Make a long story short, I’m happy with AT&T and the fact that their smart phones have wifi. While all my VZW buddies are chugging along inside the station trying to browse the web I’m zipping along on WIFI and when were out things are still speedy on the 3G network v. EVDO.

Verizon will not get back my service until they start providing better service, better (un-crippled) handsets and more reasonable rate plans.

The real test will come once all the Storm availability pains are ironed out, once a few hundred thousand or a few million handsets hit the network we will see just how robust things really are.

Maybe things will change once LTE is up and running as VZW seems to have come out big in that auction (thought i think AT&T did fairly well also).

what about unlocked GPS???? the manual shows no options, other than VZNAV…its not a deal killer, but man, i would love unlocked gps..

joe

There already is a gsm version of the omnia. Been out for a while too. Its worth it in my opinion. Makes good of winmo unlike the touch pro

Jeremiah

Hmmm so what’s the catch? LOL.

I wonder why it’s called “WiFi Capable” instead of just having the WiFi logo. I doubt that that’s unintentional in some way.

jon

@joe

your a fool and no one wants your opinion

joe

i am a fool i know, im trying to look smart so people will care what i think, but its not working :(

http://www.bulldoglist.com joe

aww I have fans!

:)

Matt S

@Jeremiah

Yeah there is something quite odd about not using the universal wifi logo. Maybe WiFiAccess is similar to verizons BroadbandAccess and has some sort of free WiFi roaming on paid WiFi networks. How about that? Maybe verizons required data plans will now including WiFi roaming? A truly great idea against the competition..

Did anyone ever thing about that??

sdot

yeah but what about the vzw touch pro? are we sure it will have wifi when it releases as well? can you get the ninjas cracking on some touch pro info/release/pricing?

foxx

I am more concerned about GPS..are going to have to only us Verizon’s nagigation software

foxx

Sorry typos galore

That was suposed to read.. I am more concerned about GPS..are we going to be limited to only Verizon’s naivgation software..

EPS

@sdot: For the Touch Pro’s specs there is no need for ninjas, you can just go to HTC’s website and look for their list of phones by carrier and go to their page for Verizon-specific phones, they already have a page on the VZW Touch Pro. There are images (weird keyboard) and the full spec sheet, including…

I don’t know about all that, but I have to agree with other vzw customers in that I’m ok W/O WIFI.
Not saying vzw has the best-ist network ever and I can use my verizon smartphone in the basement of some dudes home in Oklahoma, as we wait for the F5 tornado to pass over. What I am saying is I don’t feel I need WIFI. I don’t really use my mobile device for browsing, I carry a laptop for that in which I tether one of my phones to access verizon’s EVDO Rev. A network.
I use my mobile device for E-mails, and other messanging (ea. IM, SMS, MMS), and I never have a problem with that.

KE4QPF

Does anyone know if the i910 is going to get a similar ROM upgrade like the i900 just got to J1?

belltiara

While I am glad to see WiFi capability on the Omnia, I agree w/ vetchonda, there is really no need.

I’ve never had problems with the EVDO Rev. A network and it’s always faster and more reliable than the few times I’ve had to deal with WiFi on my laptop vs. tethering with my phone. Not to mention much more secure.

I’m just glad to see VZW finally pull out some big guns with some phones that can really be considered high end. Dares and Voyagers were a feeble attempt to keep the leaving iPhone customers. I just think it’s funny how many problems that great phone is having on the ATT network. Then again, leaving for a phone that has no removable battery and no MMS capabilities just makes me giggle anyways.

Yay for the Omnia, though! I’m excited to order one on Wednesday!

Bunbury

No need? There is more need on an EvDo phone. Why? No simultaneous voice and data. With Wifi, if you have wifi access, you should be able to manage simultaneous voice and data, using wifi for data.